The Blood Bath Part Two (The Drive to Capture)

[Stellerence]

Stell sprinted back into Hanish�s courtyard, swerving in between various parked and moving Terran vehicles with an expertise born of experience of many such campaigns. He headed towards the facilities vehicle terminals, using a basilisks bumper to leap up onto a prowler which was obstructing his path, he ran across the roof of the prowler, ignoring insult flung at him by one of the gunners. He jumped onto the floor and slowed to a jog as he ran alongside the vehicle terminal, then walked up to the panel and pressed his hand into the scanner. He selected a harasser from the display and waited to be reconstructed into the driver seat. The auto-pilot escorted Stell in his newly purchases harasser until he was a few metres from the prowler obstructing his path. Stell bashed the horn, a gunner poked his head out of the hatch shrugged

�Sorry mate but the driver is having an implant installed in the bio lab, he is gonna be some time, you in a hurry?�, he driver asked.

�Yes, as a matter of fact I am in a hurry, when the driver gets back tell him to park his fucking tank someone more sensible next time�, said Stell as he revved the throttle, wheel spun and headed off the other way.

�Hello, I am under attack by the enemy, I am taking cover behind a rock formation but I cant last much longer, I need help NOW!�, came the voice of the LLU carrier over Stells radio.

�SHIT!�, cursed Stell then floored the accelerator and swerved in and out of the Terran soldiers who were standing around in the courtyard, he managed to avoid them all as he sped out of the base and headed east, checking his map periodically for the LLU, who was a short distance easterly at the base of a mountain range. Stell drove like a madman, swerving in and out of trees missing them by mere inches. He knew how to drive a harasser all right, he had trained extensively in VR, no to mention several illegal joyriding incidents when he was a teen. He sped over a small hill, the harasser lifted from the floor a few feet, coming back down on the gradual slope on the other end.

Stell scanned the area below, then he saw Shadow, the LLU carrier, pinned down behind a rock, back to Stell, as to the right left and front, Vanu grunts rushed in to finish him and seize the LLU. Stell threw caution to the winds and drove at the cliff ledge, aiming for the shallowest route possible, he flung over the edge, in freefall for a second before he hit the decline, and began hurtling down the slope, picking up incredible speed. The Vanu grunts where within 50 metres of their target, concealed by some trees.

Stell came to the end of the slope and shot onto the plain, doing almost double the harasser normal cruise-speed. Stell scanned the distance between the Vanu, they were within firing range and now had visual on their target. They opened fire. Stell saw the slow moving projectiles of a lasher heading towards Shadow from his right flank, Stell zoomed in closer as several of the projectiles struck Shadow throwing him onto the floor, he was injured, the remaining orbs were headed towards him, but Stells harasser hurtled in their path and they struck the harasser burning plasma into the sides, Stell stuck his right hand on the harasser-passengers turret and manoeuvred it at the Vanu approaching on the right, and pulled the trigger, the fire ripped into them, killing some and making the others dive to cover.

Stell watched as Shadow got to his feet and ran towards the driver window, the Vanu on the left burst from their cover a short distance away and unloaded their guns, Shadow ran and dove through the window, crashing with a thud into the passenger seat, Stell slammed on reverse and done a 180, slamming the gearshift back into drive and accelerating off, doing his best to swerve the lasher orbs, which were now certainly armour piercing, guessed Stell by the brighter glow of the projectiles. Stell drove into the Vanu attackers knocking one flying over the bumper as the others scattered. Stell hazarded a glance back at the Vanu who was lying on the floor his head lolling side to side.

�We have got to get this to Kusag�, shouted Shadow

�No problem�, smiled Stell, winking confidently.


As the duo sped through the Vanu infested grounds, Shadow gunned with great aim at anything that posed a threat, taking out a pair of basilisks that were tailing them with great skill.

An enemy harasser pulled out of some foliage to drive alongside them, and just as the gunner began to get a bead on Stell and Shadow, Stell drew a plasma grenade with lightning speed and flung it into their compartment. A short moment later the grenade exploded sending green energy shooting from all sides of the enemy vehicle, screams of agony were heard from the harasser as it swerved away to the right and collided full speed with a boulder, exploding in a flurry of fire, metal and rock. Stell leaned over looking out of Shadow�s window and waved cockily at the enemy �You�d a thought you Barneys woulda developed some �high tech� seatbelts by now�, joked Stell with a wide grin.

�Dude, your one crazy mutha fucker man!�, said Shadow with a smile �But I�m glad your on my side�

�Happy to oblige�, grunted Stell as he swerved to miss a clump of boulders. Which was when he picked up the sound, the high pitched whistling, very quite, and far off. �Do you hear that?�, asked Stell.

�I don�t hear a thing�, replied Shadow looking at Stell confused.

�Its an enemy reaver�, stated Stell calmly.

�Y y y don�t know that!�, stammered Shadow nervously looking around, �I d don�t see n noting man!�

Then, dead ahead, it surfaced from a cliff ledge, hovering, an enemy reaver. It swung round, guns pointed on the harasser. �Oh shit, oh god please no! We�re gonna die man!!! SHIT!�, screamed Shadow locking up in shock.

�Don�t just sit there, start shootin!�, shouted Stell �We haven�t come this far to lose this LLU now!� Shadow clasped the gun trigger, aimed and took fire, the sound of the clip running dry after five or six shots was sickening. Stell imagine the reaver pilot in his cockpit smiling. Give that fucker summit to smile on now, thought Stell. He headed dead on towards the reaver, which was moving slightly, trying to take aim, then suddenly the rocket pods sparked open and a wave of rockets headed at the harasser, screaming loudly as they headed at us. Stell yanked on the wheel to the left as hard as he could, then straightened as the harasser flew up on two wheels, and began to tilt dangerously to the side. The rockets impacted where the harasser would have been moments before, sending a shockwave which knocked the buggy off course, crashing back onto both wheels. Stell headed towards the trees ahead as he heard missile after missile being unleashed, the cover of the trees saved them , as the missiles ripped apart the clump of trees behind them.

A few moments later they burst from the trees and over a small ledge, down a few metres onto another ledge, then over that down to the road, taking medium damage to the vehicle. The reaver came over the ledge a moment later, and began opening fire with its machine guns. Stell swerves to avoid the bulk of the shells, but hit the vehicle, some bouncing off, others lodging into the metal weakening the armour, one bullet ripped right through and struck Stell in the right arm, he ignored it completely, focused on the road. They were near Kusag, only one cliff separated them, however, the road down that cliff would take another 5 minutes, and they would be dead in 2. Stell looked at Shadow. �Ever seen a harasser fly?�, he asked as he slammed down on the accelerator as fast as possible.

�What, oh my god you crazy son of a bitch we�ll both be killed!!!!�, shouted Shadow as they approached the cliff that overlooked the courtyard of Kusag. The reaver stopped firing for a moment and simply observed. Stell grinned as they approached the ledge.

�Will all passengers please fasten the seatbelt and prepare for takeoff�, Stell said, comically mimicking flight announcers, not a hint of fear in his voice�

The harasser launched over the edge, into a freefall towards the base far below.

�Oooooh Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttttttttttttttttt tttttttttttttt!�, shouted Shadow as they plummeted. Stell grabbed hold of Shadows arm and yanked him to the window, then pushed him out, closely following. They freefell for a few moments, then their kinetic dampeners activated and they began to slow, the harasser hurtled towards the courtyard below, and Stell and Shadow watched their Terran Allies dive out of its path, it hit the floor and exploded sending fire into the air. Then they both landed. Amidst applauding Terran, who were whooping and cheering. Stell bowed, and Shadow copied laughing, and patting Stell manically on the back. Stell grabbed Shadows arm and pushed him into a run, �Lets take this baby HOME!!�, yelled Stell in triumph as they ran into the base.